Grown Up

When we moved into our house just over five years ago, I was about seven months pregnant, had a one year old, and was taking a few college classes. That being said, decorating our new house wasn't much of a priority (even though I really wanted to!) and our budget went mostly towards getting as much house for our buck as we could, and then furnishing it.

Well, I've decided it's finally time to make our house look like a grown up house (yet obviously still kid-friendly) and add the "finishing touches" that are long over-due.

This past October, we pulled out our yucky, stained carpet and put in hardwood floors and tiled the entry way. It turns out Phil and I are a pretty good DIY team. We also repainted the living room since I was growing weary of the very bold green I had chosen when we moved in. 

Grody carpet had to go!

Pretty new floors, excuse the mess!

Our first attempt at tiling.

Loved the green for a while, but it was time for a change.

Phil also fancy-schmanced our lighting in the living room. He took out the unsightly ceiling fan that we never used, and put in four big LED can lights, and two small LED can lights to shine down on our family pictures on either side of the t.v.

So while it was looking nice, it wasn't looking quite "finished." But, the other day I was trolling Target, and taking pictures of things I would like for my upcoming birthday, and came across two curtain panels that had been bought online and returned to the store. Since they weren't in their original packaging, they were 75% off, and I snatched them up hoping that Phil wouldn't hate them. When I got home, I started scouring the internet for cushions, rugs, vases and other decorative items to complete the look (so much easier than dragging the kids from store to store!) and found a rug I loved, so I went back to Target and bought it. Phil has been great through out this, and this is why I have the best husband ever (well, one of the reasons.) He said he wasn't sure about the curtains, but would be willing to try them out, he surprised me by saying he liked the rug, and when we disagreed about the height to hang the curtains, we had a long talk about what style we want for the house, browsed Pinterest for inspiration and examples, and then came up with a compromise. We ended up hanging the curtains at the height I wanted, and if it ends up driving Phil crazy, we'll lower them, and I'll just be happy he let me put up patterned curtains in the first place. After we hung the curtains, Phil decided he actually really did like them up high, so yay!

Ignore the nasty stains on my couches, I haven't cleaned them in a bit..

I have a big floor vase on it's way from Crate & Barrel to go in the corner, and I'm planning on sticking some twisty branches in it; I believe they're called Mitsumata? Or I might just get some from the woods, strip the bark and spray paint them white. I'm also going to try something that if it works, will have saved me about $50 today. I have an old throw I got for free, and while I like how ornate all the embroidery is on it, it's pink and way too girly for our house, so I bought some black RIT dye today for under $3. And for my cushions, well I have a Target.com shopping cart full that I'm trying to decide among (because I can't really justify $250 worth of cushions....)